


Raising Bella

by DianneRose2016



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Intelligence baby, Romance, Swearing, hurt/ comfort, jay being a badass, mentions of child abuse, mentions of sexual abuse, nothing descriptive and only done in a conversation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianneRose2016/pseuds/DianneRose2016
Summary: What starts off as a normal day changes the lives of 3 people in Intelligence. Isabella is 20 months old and the daughter Jay didn't know he had. Finding out he has a daughter is only the start, as he discovers the abuse she had been through. Jay is determined to give her the best life possible and he will protect her from Bunny trying to get her back.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	Raising Bella

**Author's Note:**

> So I found this on my computer when I was going through my Google Drive. Let me know if this is something you would like for me to continue or not. If enough people want me to, then I will. 
> 
> I also have a poll up on my fanfiction profile page for all of my Chicago PD stories. Vote for which one you would like me to complete first. The one that has the most votes will be the story that I finish first. Then I’ll move on to the one with the second-highest votes etc.

  
  


What started off as a normal day quickly changed within a single second. A change that would permanently affect the lives of three people in Intelligence. After working a hard case, one that had resulted in five ODs, three homicide victims to drive by shootings and a near pending gang war. The team had finally solved it after working for three days straight. It was just before noon on the third day of their investigation. The team had just been working on some paperwork that was needed by Crawford before they could go home and sleep the next two days away. All of that changed the second a woman walked up the stairs with a toddler in her arms. Everyone all believed that this woman was here for a case and they were about to get pulled into a new case without a desperately needed break. The lady made her way towards Jay and Hailey’s desks. The little girl, who had beautiful green eyes and very thin shoulder length brown hair, turned to look towards Jay. The second she saw him she spoke.

“Daddy.”

“Um… can we help you?” Hailey asked with a smirk.

Jay was already standing, as he was about to sit down with a fresh cup of coffee. As the woman reached them, the little girl started to kick her feet and throw her arms around as she struggled to get down.

“Daddy.”

“Hi, I’m Melissa Watson. I’m with DCFS.” The older woman said, but the little girl was not going to be ignored.

She threw herself towards Jay, just barely avoiding falling to the ground by Jay’s fast reflexes. Melissa handed the little girl over to Jay, said little girl curled up against Jay’s chest and settled instantly.

“Cute kid.” Voight said with a smirk as he leaned against the doorway of his office.

“This is Melissa Watson, she is with DCFS.” Jay explained.

“I’m guessing you are here for a case involving the kid.” Voight said to Melissa.

The little girl was clearly not very healthy. She was incredibly thin, maybe thirty pounds if she was lucky. She was also covered in bruising and cuts. She had clearly been abused. The little girl’s hand moved to the chain of Jay’s dog tags that he had under his shirt. Jay pulled the chain and pulled his dog tags out from his shirt for her to play with as Melissa spoke. 

“I am going to assume that you are Jay Halstead.” 

“I am.”

“You dated Erin Lindsay over two years ago?” Melissa asked.

“Ya, why? What’s going on?” Jay asked.

“Holy crap.” Hailey said, as her mind put the pieces together.

“What?” Jay asked, looking over at Hailey.

“Jay, look at her. She’s under two.” Hailey said gently.

“No, there’s no way. Erin would have told me. She wouldn’t keep something this important from me.” Jay automatically said.

“She would have told me.” Voight added.

“I’m sorry to spring this on you then, but you are Isabella’s father. We ran her DNA back in New York and it matched your DNA in the military database. She is your daughter.” Melissa stated.

The whole bullpen was quiet. None of them knew what to say to that, how to react. Jay was stunned. He couldn’t believe this was happening. That Erin had a daughter, their daughter, and never told him. He would have been there, hell he would have moved there if that is what it took for him to be in his daughter’s life. To be there for the pregnancy and the birth. Jay never thought much about having children, between being in the military and then in the CPD, he never allowed himself to think about having children, to hope. At the same time though, if it happened then he would be happy about it and be the best father that he could be. 

“This doesn’t make any sense. Even if Erin decided not to tell me, she wouldn’t be in this condition.” Jay said, as he forced his mind to work.

“Did something happen to Erin?” Voight asked.

“No, she’s fine. I’ve been told she is off on a case in Texas.” Melissa answered before she turned her attention back to Jay. “Is there some place you and I could talk privately about this matter?”

“Um… ya.” Jay said.

“My office.” Voight offered.

“Hails?” Jay asked, as he turned to look at her.

“Always.” Hailey said with a warm smile, as she got up and went over to them. 

“Hi, sweetie, can you come with me?” Hailey said warmly to Isabelle.

Isabella whined and turned her head into Jay’s chest. “No, Daddy.”

“It’s ok Bella, Hailey is a very good friend of mine. I’m going to be right over there and you can see me the whole time too.” Jay said as he pointed to Voight’s office. “And, you can keep these for me.” Jay said, as he pulled his dog tags off. 

Isabella curled her hand around them and moved her arm up and down to make them clink together. Isabella let out a little giggle at the sound and did it again. 

“Do you want to see what other sounds we can make with stuff on my desk?” Hailey asked.

They could see Isabella thinking about it. She looked up at Jay, who gave her a warm smile and an encouraging nod, and then Isabella opened her arms up to Hailey. Hailey easily picked her up and moved back over to her desk.

“There’s no trace on them right?” Hailey asked Jay, referring to his dog tags. She had heard stories from Jay about some of the places he had been, the chemicals, drugs and blood that had gotten on him. 

“No, they were bleached, many times.”

“We can talk right over here.” Voight said, as he moved to go into his office.

“I would prefer to speak with Jay privately.” Melissa said.

“Erin is his daughter. Anything you tell me, I’m just gonna tell him.” Jay said.

“Very well.” Melissa agreed.

The three of them headed into the office, and Jay made sure the blinds were open so Isabella could see him. He stood behind Voight, who sat down in his chair with Melissa sitting across from them. 

“This is insane.” Adam instantly said.

“It’s unreal. Why would Erin keep Jay in the dark about this?” Kim asked. Sure Erin and Jay weren’t together, but Jay wasn’t some horrible person. He had the right to know what was going on. 

Rojas grabbed something from her drawer and headed over to Hailey and Isabella.

“Hey cutie, are you hungry?” Rojas asked, as she held up a granola bar.

“Te, te.” Isabella said, as she held her hand out for the granola bar.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Rojas said warmly as she opened the granola bar and handed it over to Isabella.

“She is a cute little girl. She’s in rough shape, I can’t imagine Erin letting this happen.” Kevin said.

“Something happened. We’ll find out soon enough.” Hailey said, as she gave Isabella a smile.

“I’ll go and see if Platt has any juice boxes for her.” Kim said, as she stood.

They all knew Platt deserved to know about this. Her and Erin were very close and she cared about Jay as well. She would want to know about Isabella. 

“Hey, our first Intelligence baby.” Adam said with a warm smile.

“She is. You got a big family Bella.” Rojas said.

“Daddy.”

“He’s right there baby. I got some photos of your daddy on my phone, wanna see them?” Hailey asked.

Isabella nodded her head and Hailey pulled the photos up on her phone.

“How does she know him?” Kevin asked.

“She must have seen his photo and been told who he was.” Adam answered.

“Man this is so messed up.” Kevin said.

“Daddy.” Isabella said with a big smile as she pointed at Hailey’s phone.

“That’s right.” Hailey said warmly.

She had no idea what happened in Isabella’s past, but she did know that her future was going to be bright. Jay was an amazing man and he would be an amazing father to her. She was going to grow up with lots of uncles and aunts that will love her and be there for her. Kim walked back into the bullpen with Platt right beside her. Platt had an apple juice box in her hand and she went right over to Isabella. You could see that she was shocked by all of this and Hailey gave her a small smile.

“Hi Isabella, do you want some apple juice?” Platt asked.

“Te, te.” Isabella said, as she held her hand out for the juice.

Platt handed it over to her, making sure Isabella had a good grip before she let go. 

“Well, aren’t you the cutest thing I have seen in a very long time.” Platt said warmly.

Platt could not believe how much she looked like Jay. Her hair was the same color and her eyes, her eyes were just like Jay’s. Platt could also see Erin in Isabella, in the structure of her face and the wave in her hair. She was the perfect blend of the two and it made her so cute. She could also see how thin, tired and bruised she was. This was a little girl who had been through a rough life and Platt wanted to know just what the hell had happened and she was going to find out.

XXX

“Alright, what is going on?” Voight demanded.

“I was called a week ago to investigate a possible child endangerment to an apartment in Brooklyn. The next door neighbor had moved in recently and noticed a great deal of men coming and going at their neighbor’s, they also reported very loud and late parties. They didn’t know they had a child until they saw Isabella one day, that caused them to call DCFS.” Melissa started.

“Ok, you said Erin was in Texas for a case. So who did she leave Bella with?” Jay asked.

“I’m afraid it is not that simple. When Isabella was six months old Erin signed over her parental rights and allowed her mother to adopt Isabella.”

“She did what?” Voight asked, pissed off even more now.

“How is that even legal? I never gave anyone permission to adopt her.” Jay said with an edge to his voice.

“There was no father listed on her birth certificate. In accordance with New York State law, Erin posted an ad within the newspaper for Isabella’s father to object to the adoption for thirty days. With no objection she can go through with the adoption.” Melissa explained.

“That’s bullshit, I don’t live in New York. I would never have seen it and she knew I wouldn’t. She didn’t want to be a mother, so she handed our daughter over to Bunny.” Jay was beyond pissed. He didn’t expect for this to be what was going on. He was expecting to hear some asshole who Erin trusted with their daughter while she was in Texas had hurt her. Not that she gave his daughter to Bunny of all people.

“Bunny, is a drug addict and criminal. How was she even allowed to adopt Isabella?” Voight asked, getting more pissed by the second.

“Private adoptions don’t have to go through the courts until the final paperwork is filed, even at that point nothing is looked at in great detail. Isabella is twenty months old now and as you can see she is in rough shape. The fourteen months that she spent living with Bunny were not good ones. She is severely underweight and malnourished. Her hair is falling out because she is so malnourished. She has bruising all over her body from being abused as well. I brought her file and the photos of the apartment she was living in.” Melissa said, as she pulled the file out of the small duffle bag she had brought with her. “The home was filled with liquor bottles, empty and full. There were illegal drugs, needles and prescription pills all over the apartment. Isabella did test positive for trace amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system at the hospital.” 

“She had drugs in her system? How bad?” Jay asked, worried about what that could do to his daughter.

“It was just a small trace amount. The doctor assured me that she would be fine and it would be out of her system by now. She was living in a one bedroom apartment, Isabella didn’t have her own room. In fact, her area was here.” Melissa said, as she pulled the picture from the folder and placed it down on the desk for the others to see.

It was just an old dog bed in the corner of a room. No pillow, no blanket, nothing that a little girl should be sleeping on. 

“What the hell is that?” Jay asked, with anger flooding his voice.

“That’s where she was sleeping. I know this is hard to see and hear, but you need the information so you can properly take care of her. There wasn’t much food in the house, no milk or juice, nothing healthy that a twenty month old toddler could eat. The doctor recommended that she eats three meals a day to get her used to eating again. And she has been eating for the past few days. During the doctor’s exam he noticed some bruising on her inner thighs. That caused him to give Isabella a light sedative to put her to sleep while he ran a full sexual assault kit on her. There was trauma and semen discovered both vaginally and anally. Healing bruising indicated that it has happened previously and her hymen was broken.”

“What?” Jay asked, softly.

“The doctor couldn’t tell how long she had been sexually abused, it could have happened when she was just a year old with touching and no penetration. The police have the full SAE kit and will run forensics to see if they can get a DNA match.”

Voight slammed his fist down on the desk, causing a loud bang that caught the other’s attention in the bullpen. 

“And where the hell is Bunny in all of this?” Voight demanded.

“Where the fuck is Erin for it? She just goes about her life pretending like she didn’t leave our daughter with her mother.” Jay added.

“We have not been able to get ahold of Erin as of yet. When I do, I will be bringing her in to speak with her. As for Bunny, she was arrested on child neglect, child endangerment and child abuse. She was given bail and released. As Isabella’s legal mother she had the right to know where she was, she has been informed of Isabella coming here to be with Jay. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I have been advised that she could relocate to Chicago and petition the courts to have supervised visitation rights for Isabella. The charges could also be transferred to Chicago to be handled here if she wishes to relocate to be closer to Isabella.”

“Are you telling me that Bunny, after all of this, still has rights to her?” Jay said, shocked beyond belief right now.

“She’s not seeing Bella.” Voight instantly said. He didn’t care what Bunny had to say, if she showed up looking to see Bella, that will be the day she dies. Voight didn’t care if he went back to jail, he happily would if that meant his granddaughter would never have to look at Bunny ever again.

“It’s not a simple situation. Erin gave up all rights, so if she gets to see Isabella, that is determined by the main care provider for Isabella. Currently, that is you Jay. You have the power of if Erin can see her or not and there is nothing Erin can do about it. However, Bunny is her legal parent and she also has grandparent rights to Isabella. You have temporary custody of Isabella, but that does not eliminate Bunny’s rights. She could move down here and petition a family court for visitation rights. Any lawyer could argue that you have not been in Isabella’s life for the twenty months she has been alive. You not knowing she existed doesn’t change that you are a stranger to her. If Bunny wanted to she could fight against you being the proper caregiver for her. The right lawyer could call into question the dangers of your job, your mental health after being in the military, they could have your medical files pulled to see if you can physically and mentally handle a child. It can get messy, especially if Bunny makes a deal with the police to plead down to a lesser charge and doesn’t get jail time.” Melissa explained.

“Are you kidding me?” Jay said.

Not only did he get a bomb dropped on him about having a daughter he knew nothing about, but now he might have to fight in court with Bunny to keep her. 

“If she wants to try something, let her. She won’t win Jay. I know where all of her bodies are buried. How does Jay get sole custody of her and not just temporarily?” Voight asked.

“That is something you will need to discuss with your DCFS worker here. I will be in New York, so the case is going to be passed off to a worker down here. The worker will be in touch with you today or tomorrow, they will be in your life for the foreseeable future. They will want to inspect the home she will be living in at least once a month. Jay, where do you live?”

“I live in a one bedroom apartment right now.”

“Ok, well unless you are able to stay someplace where Isabella could have her own bedroom, I’ll have to place her in foster care today until you are able to secure a proper residence for her.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jay snapped.

He lived in a one bedroom because he lived alone. He didn’t need anything bigger and now he was being penalized because he lived there.

“I’m sorry, but it’s protocol.” Melissa said sympathetically.

“There’s no need for foster care, they can stay with me. I live alone in a three bedroom house. They can live with me as long as they want.” Voight said, there was no way in hell he was going to let his granddaughter go into foster care, not while it was within his power to prevent that. 

“If they can stay with you, then that would be acceptable. This is all of the things that she has. When I picked her up from the apartment she only had two outfits that were trashed so we picked up a few secondhand clothes for her. She is developmentally delayed due to the condition she was living in. She doesn’t walk, she doesn’t have much strength in her hands or fine motor skills. She also doesn’t really talk either. The only clear words she can say is no and daddy. The rest tends to be babble or she points. Your DCFS worker will offer you different support services to help her overcome her challenges. The police detective within New York has been given your number and is aware that you are a detective within the CPD. He said he would update you when they had any information. I also have a copy of our findings and her medical file as well.”

“What about Erin? Will she be briefed on what happened?” Voight asked.

“When she gets back to New York she may be reached out to by your DCFS worker or the detective. Any other questions?” Melissa asked.

“Ya, how does she know who I am?” Jay asked.

Melissa gave a small smile, as she pulled out a very old and wrinkled photo from the file and handed it over to Jay. 

“Isabella had this with her. Given how wrinkled it is, she’s had it for a while. At some point she was told that you were her father and she was allowed to keep it. She’s been holding onto it the whole time, even in the car and on the plane, she would look at it and say daddy and then babble to the picture.”

Jay looked at the photo and saw that it was one of the few photos he had of himself wearing his Ranger fatigues and smiling. He had no idea that Erin had taken the picture with her. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she knew she was pregnant before she left.

“You said you found her a week ago, is that when the police got involved?” Voight asked.

“Yes that day.”

Voight just shook his head. They lived in a different State, but where did the professional courtesy go? They should have known about this a week ago, they could have been in New York to be there for Isabella this whole time.

“If there is nothing else, I will leave her in your care. I need to catch my flight in two hours.” Melissa said, as she looked at her watch.

“We’ll call if something comes up.” Voight said, clearly not impressed with Melissa’s slight urgency to leave.

“I wish you the best of luck Jay.” 

“Thanks.”

Melissa headed out and Jay let out a long sigh. He was exhausted after the past three days and now he had this to deal with it.

“It’ll be alright Jay, we’ll sort it.” Voight said, supportingly.

“Are you sure you are ok with us staying with you? It could take a month or two before I can secure a place.” The very last thing Jay wanted to do was overcrowd Voight.

“Jay, that little girl is my granddaughter, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Voight said with a warm smile.

“Ok, I’m gonna take her to Med. I want Will to look her over and make sure she’s ok. I’ll see if I can talk with Dr. Charles too about what she might be going through from the trauma.” Jay said, trying to get his mind to focus on what needed to be done.

“I’ll call Olivia, I want her unit looking into what happened to her. She’ll make sure to nail Bunny and everyone involved in this. We should also file a restraining order against Bunny just in case.”

“I can’t believe I might have to fight in court against Bunny for my daughter.”

“It won’t get that far. I won’t let it. You take Bella to med, I’ll make the call and then head out to pick up a bed for her and some other things for the house. What’s in that bag?” 

Jay went over and looked through it to see a few diapers, a small package of wipes and three outfits. “Not much, just a handful of diapers, some wipes and a few pieces of clothes. I’ll pick her up some stuff. I’ll ask Will too about what she should be eating right now too.”

Voight gave a nod and stood up. He grabbed his coat and Jay picked up the bag and files before they headed out. The others all looked at them to see what had happened. Voight pulled his keys out and took the spare key to his home out and handed it to Jay. 

“Daddy.” Isabella said, as she held her arms out for him.

“Hey Bella, what do you got there?” Jay said, as he handed Hailey the folder and picked her up.

“She had some granola and apple juice.” Hailey answered, as she opened the folder.

“Boss, what’s going on?” Adam asked.

Voight let out a sigh before he spoke. “When Bella was six months old Erin allowed Bunny to adopt her. Bunny’s been raising her ever since. She’s been abused for the past fourteen months, someone even sexually assaulted her.”

“Oh my god.” Kim said, sadly.

“Bunny was arrested and released on bail. Jay and Bella will be living with me for now, I’m going to have Olivia look into her case. That’s all you need to know for now. You can all head home, take the next two days off and then come in to finish your paperwork.” Voight said, before he pulled his cell phone out and walked away towards the back stairs.

“Jay, what about Erin man?” Adam asked.

“I don’t know. It’s a mess right now. I gotta get her to Med to get looked over.” Jay said, and then looked at Hailey. “Can you do me a solid?”

“Always.” Hailey said with a warm smile.

Jay pulled his wallet out and took his debit card out that was separate from his normal bank account. It was the one that he had his army payments going into when he did any consultation work for them. Something Hailey discovered he was doing when she got back from New York. “She only has a few diapers and wipes, and three outfits that DCFS gave her. Can you pick some stuff up for her? Voight is gonna get her a bed, but she’s got nothing.”

“I’ll handle it. Does she need anything special for food?”

“I have no idea. I’m gonna ask Will and see what he recommends. A doc in New York examined her, but I want Will to make sure everything was checked. She also had trace amounts of coke and heroin in her system. I gotta make sure she’s ok.” Jay said, with a worried tone to his voice.

“No of course. Just let me know and I could pick stuff up. What about a car seat?”

“You can borrow one of ours. I would get one that could be rear facing still with her weight being so small.” Platt suggested.

“Thanks Sarg. Do you have a real estate contact?” Jay asked.

“I do ya, she’s a great realtor. What do you need?” Platt asked, more than happy to help.

“A two bedroom house, in a decent area. I could go as high as five hundred thousand.”

“I’ll call her right now and get her looking. Anything in particular?”

“I’m not too picky on what it looks like as long as it’s up to code and safe. A decent yard though for her would be good.”

“Right away?” 

“Within the next two months. Voight said we can stay with him as long as we need, maybe if she can swing it something close by him.”

“I’ll call her today and get her started on it. She’ll find you something great.”

“Jay man, if there is anything we can do.” Kevin offered.

“I appreciate it. Eventually when I do move I’ll need some extra hands, but for now I need to get her checked out and then settled at Voight’s.”

“I’ll go pick up some stuff. Do you want me to stop by your place and grab some things for you?” Hailey asked, as she put on her coat.

“If you don’t mind.”

“Text me.” Hailey said, as she went and kissed Isabella before heading out.

“I’ll grab that car seat and get her loaded up. You ready to head out and see Uncle Will Bella.” Jay said warmly.

“Daddy.” Isabella said, as she curled up into Jay’s chest.

Jay kissed the top of her head as he put the folders away into the duffle bag and then headed down the stairs with Platt. Platt helped to carry the car seat out to Jay’s truck and once Isabella was safely inside Jay thanked Platt before he got into his truck. As he headed down the street towards Med, Jay could hear Isabella playing with his dog tags and babbling away in the back seat. He still couldn’t believe that the day had gone this way. To learn that he had not only a daughter with Erin, but she gave her away to Bunny. That his daughter had been abused in every sense of the word. It tore his heart into pieces. He knew Bella had a long way to go before she would be at the proper level for her age, but he was going to work with her on it and he knew Will and Voight would as well. They would get her to where she needed to be. 

When he arrived at the hospital Jay picked up Bella and headed inside. He could see the waiting room was a little busy and Jay was hoping he would be able to sneak in and see Will without having to wait hours to get in. The perks of being a cop and a doctor’s brother. Jay also had her medical file with him so Will could review it as well. Jay walked up to the nurses’ station and saw Maggie there. She gave them both a warm smile as she spoke.

“Hey Jay, here for a case?”

“No, actually. Is Will around?”

“He’s with patients. We’re down a doc today. What’s up?”

“This is Isabella, she’s my daughter.”

Shock instantly went across Maggie’s face at hearing that. “Whoa. Um ok, trauma room four just became free. Take her in there and I’ll let Will and Nat know.”

“Thanks Maggie. Could you page Dr. Charles for me too, I just got a few questions to ask him.”

“Of course.”

Jay gave a small smile of thanks before he headed off to the trauma room. He could tell that Bella was nervous, as she clung more to his dog tags and curled into his chest. He knew how she felt, he didn’t like hospitals either and at her age, after everything she went through it would be even more scary. 

“It’s ok Bella. Daddy’s here and he is not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise you’re safe.” Jay said, as he ran his hand along her back to try and sooth her.

Bella whined and curled her face into Jay’s chest even more. “It’s ok baby, I got you. You’re safe, I’m never going to let anyone hurt you. It’s ok baby girl.”

It was a few minutes later when the curtain was opened and Will walked in with Natalie. Jay could see the shock all over Will’s face. Jay couldn’t blame him, he was shocked still too.

“I know.” Jay said with understanding in his voice.

“How?” Was all Will could ask.

“Who?” Natalie added.

“Erin. Apparently she was pregnant when she left for New York and never told me. I just found out when a DCFS worker from New York showed up with her at the precinct. It’s a long story I’ll tell you about it later. Isabella, was checked out by a doc there, but I wanted to make sure she was ok.”

“Ya, of course. Do you know what they did?” Natalie asked.

“Her medical file is right there.” Jay said with a nod.

“Hi Isabella, I’m your uncle Will.” Will said, trying to get the little girl to look at him.

Bella whined and Jay tightened his hold onto her. “It’s ok Bella, your Uncle Will is Daddy’s big brother. He would never hurt you.”

“Bella, would you like to see something pretty cool on my phone?” Will asked, as he pulled his phone out and opened the app.

Bella turned her head ever so slightly so she could see the screen. Will touched his screen and where he touched it, fireworks went off. Bella gave a small smile and turned her head more so she could see the screen better. Will did it again and Bella gave a small chuckle to it.

“Do you want to try?” Will offered.

Bella hesitated for a moment before she slowly moved her arm and touched the screen. She couldn’t help but giggle at the pretty fireworks she made. 

“Good girl Bella. Do you want to sit and play with my phone with Daddy?” Will offered.

“That sounds like fun. Why don’t we sit down and you can keep playing with uncle Will’s phone.” Jay said. He knew they needed to get Bella distracted so they could look her over.

Jay went and sat down on the bed and took the phone from Will. Bella turned so she was facing the room now and played with the phone.

“She’s in pretty rough shape Jay.” Will said, sadly as he took her in.

“It’s bad Will.” Jay said, allowing the pain to come through his voice in the safety of his brother’s presence. 

“It’ll be ok Jay, we can figure it all out. What’s the paperwork showing Nat?” Will asked.

“Ok so the doctor wasn’t a pediatric specialist. He gave her a light sedation for the examination, he found numerous contusions all over her body. She is obviously malnourished. We’ll talk about what to do about that shortly.” Natalie said that part to Jay before she continued. “He took her blood and found trace amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system. He didn’t run her blood again before she was discharged, which he should have. He gave her an IV to help with fluids as well as an IV antibiotic as a precaution. She was kept in the hospital for three days before she was discharged. Oh my god.” Natalie said with hurt in her voice.

“What?” Will asked, as he moved over so he could read over her shoulder.

“SAE kit was positive.” Natalie said.

“Some of a bitch.” Will said, pissed as he read just what had been done to his niece. 

“We don’t know who yet.” Jay said.

“Ok, so she was given dissolvable internal stitches to both areas. And monitored for any bleeding. I’m not seeing any scans though.” Natalie said, as she flipped through the reports.

“They didn’t take any?” Will asked, surprised. At the very least they should have done an ultrasound to ensure there was no internal bleeding.

“No, nothing. Jay, I don’t know how much time you have right now, but I would like to give her a light sedation so she can sleep through it. I would like to do an exam of her to make sure everything is healing properly. I would like to redo her blood work and do a full body x-ray and a full body CT scan. It should have been done right away at the hospital in New York. She could have internal injuries that we don’t even know about.” Natalie said.

“Do what you need. That’s why I’m here, to make sure she’s ok. Do whatever you think she needs.” This was why Jay came here. He trusted the doctors in this hospital and he knew that if they said she was ok, then she truly was ok.

“Let’s run a full blood work panel, I want to check what her iron, calcium and sugar levels.” Will said.

“I’ll include it. I’m going to be testing for a lot of things in the blood work just as a precaution. I also want to check to see if the vaccines are in her system. I’ll run an antibody test.” Natalie said, as she grabbed a needle for the sedative. 

“I asked Maggie to page Dr. Charles so I could talk to him about what this could do to her.” Jay said to Will.

“That’s a good idea. I’m not too sure about any behaviour changes she could have.” Will agreed.

Natalie gave the shot to Bella and the second she pulled the needle out, Bella started to cry. Jay placed Will’s phone down and turned her so she was against his chest.

“I know I’m sorry baby. It’ll be ok.” Jay continued to rub his hand along her back to soothe her. It only took a minute though before Bella got tired and closed her eyes. 

“I’m gonna go and grab a gown for her. I’ll be right back with everything.” Natalie said, as she headed out of the room.

Will went over and sat down on the bed and ran his hand through Bella’s hair. 

“What the hell happened?” Will asked.

“It’s a mess Will. When she was six months old Erin signed away all of her parental rights and allowed Bunny to adopt her. She did it all behind my back, she didn’t even leave my name on her birth certificate. A week ago a new neighbor of Bunny’s called DCFS because of the parties and men coming and going into their home. They didn’t know she had a kid and once they did they called. I feel like I should be sending them a thank-you gift for being a decent human being.”

“Too many times good people look the other way. We’re lucky that didn’t happen this time. What did they find?”

“Bunny was living in a one bedroom apartment. Bella was sleeping in the corner of the living room on an old dog bed. No blanket, no pillows, nothing. The place had barely any food. It was covered with liquor bottles, there were drugs all over the place. She’s also under developed in fine motor skills and talking. She can only say no and daddy clearly, the rest is just babble. She can’t walk either.”

“She will, we’ll get her there. All of that can be learnt and with proper food and rest she’ll pick it up very quickly. How did she handle seeing you?”

“She didn’t have a problem. Erin took a photo of me back when I was in the Rangers, I didn’t even know she took it, which has me believing she knew when she left that she was pregnant and didn’t say anything. At some point she gave it to Bella and told her who I was, because the New York DCFS worker, Melissa, said Bella had it with her. She took it everywhere and would even talk to the photo. She knew who I was the second they walked into the bullpen.”

“This is unbelievable. I don’t get why she kept this from you, and to let her mother of all people adopt her.” Will said, pissed that they had been denied twenty months of having Bella in their lives.

“She’s in Texas for a case right now, but when she gets back I’m gonna have to go to New York or see if she’ll come here so we can talk about this. Because it is bullshit. She knew without a doubt that I would have been there for the both of them. If she didn’t want to leave New York, I would have given up everything and moved there. We didn’t have to be together, we could have just been co-parents to her. Even when she was six months old and decided she didn’t want to be a mother anymore, one phone call and I would have been on the next plane out there to get her. It didn’t have to go this way. She knows better than this, and yet she went behind my back and gave Bunny our daughter, my daughter.” Jay said with a mixture of anger and hurt to his voice.

“She’s safe now and we will get her healthy and get her justice. What did DCFS say?”

“They almost put her in foster care because I didn’t have a bedroom for her. Said I had to have a two bedroom so she could have her own room.”

“What? No, hell no, you guys can just stay at my place and I’ll go stay at yours.” Will was not about to let his niece go into foster care, that was never going to happen.

“I appreciate it, but it’s ok Voight said we could stay with him as long as we need. He’s got a three bedroom house to himself and I think he’s looking forward to spending some time with her. Erin isn’t his biological daughter, but she is his daughter and Bella’s his granddaughter. He was heading to get her a bed for her room. A worker from DCFS here will be in contact with me in the next couple of days to do a home inspection. Melissa said they would be in my life for a while. Platt has a realtor for a friend, she is going to have her start looking for a house for us.”

“Ok, well my apartment’s lease is up in two months, why don’t I put my notice in and move in with you. I can talk to Goodwin and see if I can get my shifts changed to days so I can be home with her at night in case you have to work.” Will offered.

“Are you sure? You love that apartment.”

The very last thing Jay wanted to do was put Will out. Their relationship was beyond better than it was ten years ago, but he didn’t want to jeopardise it for anything.

“It’s just an apartment Jay. I love you and I am going to love this little girl. My home is you guys, it doesn’t matter what the house looks like, you guys are my home. And you are going to need help with her and with me being there I can help with her development. You don’t have to do this alone Jay, I would love to be there.” Will said warmly. He made the mistake when Jay was in the army to not be there for him, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake.

“Thank-you.” Jay said, sincerely.

Natalie walked back in with everything she needed with Dr. Charles behind her. 

“Ok, I’m just going to get her changed and then I’ll take some blood and then examine her.” Natalie said.

“Hello Jay, I heard what happened from Natalie. How are you holding up?” Dr. Charles asked.

“Honestly Doc, I have no idea right now. I’m stuck between anger and hurt.”

“And that is a perfectly normal reaction to news like this. Even betrayal would be normal. You have a great support system though and they’ll help you work through your feelings about it. I’m going to assume you are more interested in how Isabella will react to the change.”

“I am. I know she’s young, but how will this affect her?”

“Well, the good news is in six months time you will be the only one that will remember what happened to her. She’s so young, her mind is still developing and growing, she won’t have any memories of any of this.”

“Good, that’s good.” That was a huge relief to Jay. To know that she wouldn’t be scarred by this was a huge relief to him. Natalie picked up Bella and Jay moved so Natalie could do what she needed for her.

“Now, the trauma can still be there if it is not worked through in the early stages. She isn’t at the age where she can be vocal enough to tell you how she is feeling, so you’ll have to watch how she reacts. It will be natural for her to be uncomfortable or scared around men. She will be getting nightmares from it, she could even have some separation anxiety from being away from you.” Dr. Charles continued.

“Ok, so how do we help her with that?” Will asked.

“By comforting her through the nightmares, as she gets older they will fade away, but it will take some time. Being patient with her and letting her know you’re there for her will help her get through it. I would invest in a good nightlight, they have ones that even play soft music and have stars that go on the ceiling. Things like that can help them fall asleep. With getting her comfortable around strangers, never leave her alone with them. Always gradually increase their exposure to them and let her get used to them. The separation anxiety is something you will need to be careful with. Give it a week and then start leaving her with someone else even for a few minutes while you go into another room. Slowly get her used to you not being within her eyesight and when you show back up make a big deal of saying hi to her. It will help her mind understand that even if you are not there, you will come back to her. Again though, she might not have any separation anxiety or she might have just a little bit. It all depends on how long ago the trauma was and how her mind processed it.”

“Ok, so see how she does and plan accordingly.” Jay said with understanding.

“Exactly. If you are worried at all, you can always talk with me. Kids at her age it’s very difficult to do any counseling because they can’t properly communicate what they think and feel. You’ll have to keep an eye on her behaviour. What you can do to help is allow her to have some of the power back in her life. So if she can have a snack, let her pick if she wants an apple or a banana. Let her pick which stuffed animal she wants to take with her in your truck. Let her pick her clothes. These little decisions can help her feel like she has some power and control in her life.” 

“Thanks Doc, I appreciate you taking the time to come down and talk about it.” Jay said with a small smile of thanks.

“Hey no problem. Like I said, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to see me.” Dr. Charles said warmly as he shook Jay’s hand.

“Appreciate it.” Jay said.

Dr. Charles headed out and Jay’s phone beeped. He pulled it out to see who was texting him.

“It’s Hailey, she’s wondering what clothing size Bella is.” Jay said.

“It’s twelve months right now and diaper size is three.” Natalie answered.

“She’s twenty months, she’s almost a year behind in her weight. The Doc in New York said to feed her three meals a day, but that doesn’t seem right to me.” Jay said, as he texted Hailey back and then sat down in the chair beside the bed.

“It’s not. I can understand what he was trying to do, but at her age given the level of malnourishment and how there are a lot of foods that she wouldn’t have eaten before it would be best to avoid large meals. I would honestly let her graze all day if she wanted to. If she eats an apple then an hour later wants yogurt, let her. If she eats something small every hour for twenty hours in the day, let her. Right now she just needs the nutrition and fat to get her back into a safe and healthy level. Then you can work with her on eating proper meals three times a day with snacks.” Natalie explained.

“Ok, that makes more sense to me. What should we be feeding her?” 

“Fruit and vegetables, start her off with a small amount of milk a day and let her system build up to it. Bland food like chicken and mashed potatoes, oatmeal. You could even do baby food for her as well. It will be easier on her stomach and give her some nutrients. Anything in the baby food section she can have. Small snacks throughout the day will help build her stomach up.”

Jay gave a nod and sent the info over to Hailey. Then he sent a text with the info to Voight and what was going on. He wanted to make sure Voight was kept up to date on what was going on with Bella. He knew Voight would be worried and Jay wanted to make sure he had all of the info out of respect to him. 

“Ok, Jay, I’m going to do a physical exam on her. It’s up to you if you wish to stay or for Will to be here as well while I examine her private areas.” Natalie said.

“It’s fine, unless you don’t want to be here for this.” Jay said, as he turned to look at Will.

“I’m here for you.” Will said, moving over so he could place his hand on Jay’s shoulder. 

They both stayed silent as Natalie worked on Bella and did what she needed to do. Jay was hoping that Bella would stay asleep through all of the tests so she wouldn’t have to wake up and be scared. One thing Jay did know, it was going to be a long time before he would be able to actually lay down and sleep. 

XXX

It was just after five o’clock that night when Jay was finally pulling into Voight’s driveway. The last few hours had been long and Jay really just wanted a hot shower and to sleep, but he knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. He was used to being tired though, he had plenty of practice with being in the army. The scans had all come back that Bella was free of any bleeding or broken bones, it was just bruising that would heal. However, it did reveal past injuries that weren’t reported. Jay didn’t even know what to think right now, he was too drained to even begin to process all of this. Jay got out and went and picked up Bella, who was sleepy herself. Jay was hoping she would be able to lay down and get some serious sleep.

“We’re home baby.”

“Daddy.” Bella said with a sleepy voice.

Jay picked her up and grabbed the duffle bag before heading inside. The door was unlocked and Jay walked in. He had only really been here a handful of times, it was weird though to be walking into the house without Erin with him. 

“Should we go find Grandpa?” Jay said, as he walked towards the kitchen, but Voight wasn’t there.

Jay didn’t want to call out in case he had fallen asleep. 

“Pop pop.” Bella said.

Jay smiled at that, Bella didn’t say much but when she did she could make the proper sounds. She just needed someone to work with her on learning proper words now. Will had said it was a good sign that she could make the proper sounds, it showed that her brain wasn’t compromised from her life so far. Jay headed up the stairs and found Voight in Bella’s new room. He was just finishing up making the bed.

“There’s grandpa.” Jay said, as they walked into the room.

Voight turned around as Bella spoke. “Pop pop.”

“Hello my beautiful girl.” Voight said, warmly as he went over to them.

“This looks great Sarg.” Jay said, as he took in the room.

There was a white wooden single bed with a pink princess bedspread. There was also her name in wooden letters over her bed. There was also a long white dresser to match, a pink pop up basket that was full of toys and stuffed animals. On the dresser there was a baby monitor and a butterfly night light that would play stars on the ceiling.

“I think it’s perfect for a princess, what do you think Bella?” Voight said.

Bella pointed towards the bed and spoke. “De me?”

“That’s your bed, it’s Bella’s bed.” Jay said, as he went and brought Bella over to the bed. He placed her down and the second Bella touched the bed she moved to her knees and bounced slightly.

Bella giggled and did it again. 

“I think she likes it.” Voight said, as he joined them.

“What’s not to like?” Jay agreed.

“Upton was by a couple hours ago with some clothes and that basket of stuff for her. She also brought you a duffle bag with clothes. It’s in Justin’s old room.” Voight explained.

“Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it Hank.” Jay said sincerely.

“You’re family Jay, it’s just that simple.” Voight said, as he placed his hand on Jay’s back for a second. 

Bella kept bouncing and giggling and both Jay and Voight couldn’t help but smile at her. 

“That’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.” Jay said.

“It always will be.” Voight said with warmth to his voice. 

“Dat?” Bella asked, as she pointed to the basket.

“Ya, you wanna check it out?” Jay said, as he went and grabbed the basket and brought it over closer to the bed. He bent down and started to pull out different items and placed them down on the bed for Bella to see them.

There was a nice soft pink blanket that she could carry around if she wanted. There was also a white cat stuffed animal and a german shepherd stuffed animal as well. There was also a wooden barnyard puzzle, some colorful wooden blocks and a pink shape cube. Bella reached and picked up the blanket and gave it a hug.

“Te.” Bella said with a smile.

“Is it soft?” Voight asked, as he bent down next to the bed.

“Sot.” Bella said.

“That’s right, good girl Bella.” Jay praised.

Even though it wasn’t perfect, he wanted her talking more. He didn’t care if it was proper words, getting her used to talking was more important right now. Bella rubbed the blanket against her cheek and snuggled into it. She kept it in her hand as she reached out and pointed at the german shepherd stuffed animal.

“Dat?” Bella asked.

“It’s a puppy. Do you know what sound a puppy makes?” Jay said, as he picked up the stuffed animal and handed it to Bella. Bella shook her head and Jay spoke. “Woof. Can you make that sound?”

“Woof.” Bella repeated and then clapped her hands, happy that she got it right.

“Good girl. Do you like puppy or kitty?” Jay said, pointing between the two stuffed animals.

“Woof.” Bella said, holding the puppy up.

“Me too.” Voight agreed.

Bella cuddled the puppy and blanket as she gave a yawn before putting her thumb in her mouth.

“Tired baby? Do you want to curl up and sleep?” Jay asked.

“Dere?” Bella asked.

“Ya baby, this is your bed. You can sleep in it as long as you want.” Jay said. He wasn’t sure just what Bella could understand, but he was hoping she would understand some of it.

Voight got up and went over to the dresser as Bella gave a nod. Jay picked up the toys and put them back as Voight walked back over with pink princess pajamas and held them up.

“Do you want to put on some new pjs?” Voight said.

“Oh wow, look at that Bella, new pjs.” Jay said warmly.

“Eese.” Bella said, as she rubbed her eye.

Voight handed the pjs over to Jay who easily got Bella changed into them and then got her tucked into bed. Bella curled up with her thumb in her mouth and her new blanky and stuffy. Voight went over and turned on the nightlight butterfly and even clicked the soothing music for it as well before he went and turned off the lights. Bella looked up at the ceiling and pointed.

“Da.”

“Ya, stars, you got your own night sky Bella. Do you see that?” Jay said, pointing to the baby monitor.

“Da.”

“That lets me hear you. So if you wake up and you are scared, all you have to do is call for Daddy and I will come running right to you. You are nice and safe here Bella.” Jay removed his dog tags from his neck and wrapped them around her bedpost as he continued. “These kept me safe when I was in a bad place. And now, they will keep you safe.”

“Daddy.” Bella said, pointing to the tags.

“That’s right baby.” Jay said, as he ran his hand through Bella’s hair. “I love you.”

Bella closed her eyes and Jay continued to stroke her hair for a good ten minutes before he was confident she was fast asleep. Jay then stood up and slowly made his way out of the room. He didn’t even notice that Voight had already left. Jay made sure he had the second half of the baby monitor and he closed the door part way and left the light on in the hallway just in case Bella woke up and was scared of the dark. Jay made his way down the stairs and heard Voight in the kitchen. He walked in to see Voight had some hamburgers ready for the grill. 

“Want some help?” Jay offered.

“Start the grill if you want.” 

Jay gave a nod and headed out the backdoor to where the barbecue was. He made quick work of getting it going when his phone rang. Jay pulled it out to see it was Hailey calling him. He answered as Voight came out with the burgers. 

“Hey.” Jay said.

“Hey babe. You ok?” Hailey asked gently.

Jay let out a sigh as he moved away from Voight, who headed back inside to finish getting some stuff ready for dinner.

“We just got here about thirty minutes ago. She’s asleep in her new bed, in her new pjs, which she loves.”

“I thought she would. I saw her room, Voight did a great job on it, especially on such short notice.”

“He did. She loves it. She’s curled up with her new blanky and she picked the puppy over the cat.”

“A true daddy’s girl. When I saw it, I thought she would love it. How are you holding up with all of this?”

“I don’t know, just trying to take it one hour at a time right now. There’s a lot me and Voight have to talk about. I don’t even know when I’ll be able to come back to the team or if it’s even possible for me to be there anymore. Will was able to get his shifts changed to solid days, so he’s working from six until four and he said Bella could be at the daycare there. But I don’t really want her being looked after by strangers right now. It’s great that Will will be living with us and he’ll be there at night for her when I have to work, but I don’t want her spending days without even really seeing me.”

“I get that, and I don’t think she should be in daycare just yet. I agree, she needs to be around you and people she can get to know and trust. Maybe you can work just nights in Intelligence so you can be home with her during the day.” Hailey suggested.

“Maybe, I gotta talk it out with Voight and see. I know this complicates things, you didn’t sign up for a child.” Jay said.

They had been together for the past month, ever since Hailey had returned from New York. The distance and time apart was too much for them and they both didn’t want to waste anymore time not being together. It was one thing though to start dating someone and another to find out they had a kid. It complicated things and the very last thing Jay wanted was to make Hailey feel pressured at all.

“Don’t even Jay. She’s your daughter, I already love her. We’ll figure it out, a child is a blessing no matter the situation. You don’t ever have to worry about that.” 

“I love you.” Jay said warmly.

“I love you too. I am going to head to bed. Vanessa is already in bed, we just finished having dinner and cleaning up. Try and get some sleep while she is.” 

“I will. Voight’s making burgers and after I eat, I’ll head up to bed. I don’t know how long or how well Bella will sleep.”

“Well, you said she was going to be more tired than anything over the next couple of weeks. She might sleep most of the night away. Especially in a warm and comfy bed.”

“I hope so. She needs the sleep. Thankfully right now she seems to be doing well. I know Dr. Charles said she could have problems, but he also said there was a chance she wouldn’t have any. I’m really hoping with her age she can come away from this without any trauma or memories of it,”

“She’s so young Jay, she probably can’t even process what happened to her. She’s got a good chance of moving on without having problems over it. And if something does come up, we’ll deal with it. We’ve faced worse.”

“Yes we have. You’re exhausted, go lay down. I’ll talk to you tomorrow and let you know how things are going around here.”

“Ok babe. Call me if you need me.”

“I will. Get some sleep babe.”

“You too.”

Jay ended the call and let out a tired sigh. He rubbed his hand over his face to try and wake up a bit. He needed sleep, but he also needed to eat something. Jay headed back over to the grill where Voight had returned to bring out some cheese for the burgers. 

“Upton?” Voight asked.

“Ya, she just wanted to check in and make sure we aren’t stuck at the hospital still. She was heading off to bed.”

“Been a long few days. I’m surprised you're still standing after all the tactical.”

Jay gave a shrug. “I’m used to it. There were times overseas where we would be locked in a firefight for four or five days straight. Then afterwards we had to take care of the injured and fix the base, so we’d be up for close to a week straight, only getting twenty minute naps once a day.”

“You’d be in firefights for days straight?” Voight asked, surprised.

“There wasn't a single day over there that we weren’t in a firefight. We would go three months with barely any sleep. On that plane ride home there wasn’t any celebrating, you just fell into your hammock and slept for twenty-two hours. Only to be awake long enough to go from the airport to get home and then sleep the next two days away. I can function off little sleep.”

“Well, you take the night shift then in the morning when I wake up I’ll grab the monitor from you so you can sleep straight through.” Voight offered.

“She seems ok, does she seem ok to you? A normal toddler?”

Voight was the one that had raised a child before, he was the one that had already gone through these stages and would be able to judge based on what he had experienced.

“She seems good Jay. I was expecting her to have some problems, but she seems to be happy to be here. First night could just be a honeymoon, time will tell how she adapts.”

Jay let out a small sigh. “It’s been one hell of a day.”

“Understatement. How are you handling it?” 

“I don’t know yet. Part of me can’t believe that I have a daughter, that it doesn’t feel real. The other part of me feels like she’s always been in my life. It’s weird.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to feel. Even after my wife was pregnant for nine months when Justin was born I still couldn’t believe he was here. It becomes real once you get into a routine. You’re doing the right thing Jay. I know it came out of left field, but a lot of men would have said no. You are taking her on and proving once again why you are a good man.” Voight said proudly.

“She’s my daughter, it’s just that simple.”

And it was just that simple to Jay. This wasn’t just another kid they found on a case, this was his daughter, his biological daughter. He wasn’t going to just walk away from her or pretend she wasn’t here. Once the burgers were done they both headed inside and made themselves a plate and sat down at the table with the baby monitor. 

“I guess I don’t need to tell you I won’t be coming in to work in two days.” Jay said with a warm smirk.

“I think that is obvious. We do have to talk about what will happen when you do go back to work.” 

“I know. Will is able to be working straight days so he can be there for Bella. I know I could have her in the daycare at Med, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving her with strangers right now. She’s been through a lot. I don’t want her around all these different people, especially until we know how she is going to react to all of this.”

“I agree. She needs to be around the same people right now. What are you thinking?” Voight said, referring to working.

“I love working in Intelligence, you know that, but just working nights doesn’t work for the unit. We can’t guarantee when a case will pop off or what will happen. I’m gonna have to talk to Platt and see what unit I can be in and work nights. I don’t want to leave, but I have to put her first and I can’t leave her in daycare all day and go some nights where I might not even see her. She needs stability, it’s my job to give that to her.”

It sucked, it really did. Jay didn’t want to leave Intelligence, but he wasn’t going to put Bella in a position to be hurt, whether that was physical, emotional or mental. He had done jobs in the past that he didn’t want to do with being in the Army, he can suck it up and do what needs to be done.

“Before he became a cop, my father was in the Army. He was a Ranger in the seventy-fifth fourth battalion.” Voight started.

“Really? You’ve never talked about it.” Jay said, surprised that Voight was talking about his old man, he never brought his dad up.

“Some wounds never fully heal, but you know that.” Vought said gently. To which Jay gave a nod to. “I was very young when he left the army, but I do remember him getting home and each time he was different. It took him longer to settle back into a normal life. I mean, I don’t have to tell you the toll it takes on a man and his family. He couldn’t do it anymore so he quit and became a cop, a great cop. When I was eighteen I went down to the police academy and I joined right then and there. All I wanted to be was a cop, was to make my dad proud. I’ve been on the job for thirty years now. I’ve had a lot of good times and there have been a lot of bad ones. Cases that haunt me still to this day. I’ve lost a lot of friends, good friends. I’ve put a lot of bad people away and I was fully prepared to die a cop. Even when Justin was born I knew that being a cop was all I wanted to be. Now the world looks different.”

Jay was about to respond when they heard Bella crying over the monitor. Jay got up and made his way up the stairs to his daughter. He walked in and turned on the lights as he spoke.

“It’s ok baby. I’m right here.” 

Jay went over and Bella held her arms up and Jay easily picked her up and held her against his chest. Bella curled into Jay’s chest with her new dog stuffy as she cried. Jay ran his hand up and down her back to try and soothe her.

“What happened baby? Did you have a bad dream?” Jay asked, gently. 

Bella nodded her head and Jay kissed the top of her head as he spoke. “I get them too. They can be pretty scary sometimes. They aren’t real though, dreams can’t hurt you.”

“Ary.” Bella cried.

“They can be very scary and not very fun.” Jay continued to speak, not even remembering that Voight could hear him downstairs. Jay sat down on the edge of the bed as he spoke. “You know Daddy spent five years having to go to all these bad and scary places. I did eighteen months in the scariest place on Earth, and when I got back home to my own bed, I was too scared to close my eyes. I had a hard time not moving around and my hands would shake. And when I did fall asleep, I would have terrifying dreams, some that felt real and they would happen even when I was awake.”

“Ake.” Bella asked, as she moved her head back.

“Ya, it could be very scary and for a long time I thought it would never get better. But then your Uncle Will gave me a gift. It was a special blanket and when I was too scared to sleep or when it got hard to stay still and breathe, I would wrap up in the blanket. And it made me feel better. I could sleep without the bad dreams. I still sleep with it, every night and it’s my weapon against all those bad dreams. How about tomorrow we go out together and find you one?”

“Te?” 

“Ya baby. I’m sure we could find a pink one or maybe one with magical unicorns.” Jay said with a warm smile.

“Eese.” Bella said with a hint of a smile.

“We’ll go in the morning after breakfast. Do you want to come downstairs with Daddy for a bit, until you feel better?”

Bella gave a nod and Jay stood up and made his way back down the stairs and into the dining room to join Voight. It was that moment when he realised the baby monitor was sitting on the table, Voight had heard everything he said. 

“I forgot that was here.” Jay said, as he sat down with Bella in his lap.

“When Antonio came to me asking to have you in the unit he told me how you got shot saving his sister. I knew then that I would have to honor his request and bring you in. At the time though the only one who didn’t have a set partner was Erin. I pulled your police jacket and I saw that you were an ex-ranger, that is when I knew you would be perfect for Erin. You had the skills to protect her. You also knew what a team was, and you had skills that no one else in the CPD had. I knew you would be valuable to the team. But I also knew you didn’t come out of the army without any scars. I figured you had PTSD before you even stepped foot within my unit, I accepted that and I honor the sacrifices that you made to protect this country and people overseas. If a weighted blanket helps keep you mentally strong and able to keep going to work to help more people, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re a real hero Jay, use whatever weapon you need to use to keep being in this world.” Voight said with pure sincerity to his voice.

“Thank-you Hank.” Jay said with a voice thick from emotions.

“I agree with you, I think a weighted blanket for her could really help. Especially in the start of things as she gets used to the changes.” 

“Ya, I’ll pick one up tomorrow for her.”

“Da?” Bella said, pointing to the rest of Jay’s burger.

“You hungry baby?” Jay asked.

Bella nodded her head and Jay spoke. “I would love to give you a piece, but Uncle Will says we have to feed you plain food and beef is not allowed yet.”

“Why don’t we go and see what looks good?” Voight said, as he got up.

Bella held her arms up and Voight easily picked her up and made his way into the kitchen to find something that interested Bella. Jay finished the rest of his burger by the time they came back in. Voight sat down with Bella in his lap and in his hand he had a plate with some cut up banana.

“What do you got there?” Jay asked, warmly.

“Nana.” Bella said with a big smile as he reached out to pick up a piece.

“Is it good?” Voight asked.

“Ood.” Bella said, as she chewed with a smile.

Both Jay and Voight gave a small chuckle before Jay got back to business.

“You said things were different now. What did you mean?”

“Things are different. Before I was happy to die a cop, I wasn’t ever going to walk away from this job. I lost my son, Olive moved away with my grandson and now I only see him through a video screen. Erin left, Al was murdered. Everyone that I truly loved was gone. There was nothing more appealing than going out in a hail of bullets to me. Whether that was a year from now or another twenty. I got thirty years on this job and now it’s time for me to get out.”

“Wait, what?” 

Jay couldn’t be hearing this right. There was no way Voight was thinking about retirement, there was just no way.

“I can’t think of a better way to spend my time then with this little girl. One of the biggest regrets that I have is not moving with Olive to help her with Daniel. To be able to spend as much time as I want with him. I’m not making that mistake twice. I’ve got thirty good years on this job, I’ve lost a lot. Now it’s time that I get to spend some time in the sunlight. I can’t think of a more perfect retirement then this little one.” Voight said honestly.

“I can’t imagine you not being there. What will happen to the unit?”

“I’m leaving it in capable hands. In your hands. Crawford has been looking to promote you to Sergeant for awhile now, but he knew you wouldn’t leave Intelligence. You’ll be able to take over in my place. I’ll get to have Bella during the day and you can have her at night or on the days you don't have a case. I’ve carved out my own history, it’s your turn to do the same. It’s your time Jay.”

“What about when she is in school in the next two years? You’ll be alone all day.” 

It wasn't that Jay didn’t want to run the unit or for Bella to spend her day with her grandfather. It was that he didn’t want Voight to regret it later on. 

“Then you hire me as a civilian consultant and I can help solve cases. Only you get all the paperwork and get to deal with the politics. This is something I want to do Jay. I want to spend all day playing with my granddaughter. I won’t have any regrets. It’s time I got out and it’s time you took over. I know you will grow the unit into something remarkable. You have the skills and you’ve led people through warzones, I know the family will be safe with you.”

“If you are one hundred percent sure about this, then ok. I know she will be safe with you and I know you’ll take good care of her. And like you said, when we don’t have a case or on my days off I’ll get her. Platt’s relator is going to look for a place for me, Will and Bella around this area, so we’ll be close.”

“Will’s going to live with you?”

“Ya his lease is up soon so he’s going to live with us and be there to help out.”

“Good. It’ll be good for Bella to have him around and he can help with her development. I contacted Olivia and she is going to take over the case. She was upset that she hadn’t been placed on it right away. She’s going to keep us posted on what she can gather. She is also going to reach out to the FBI and get Erin on the phone. She wants to interview her and see what she knows. She does want to know what we want her to do if it comes back that Erin knew what was going on.”

Jay let out a long slow breath as he looked over at Bella. She was happily munching on the banana pieces and was just a happy little girl right now. He had no idea how he felt about Erin right now. He was still trying to process everything that he had learnt today. That was a whole other can of worms and he had no idea what to do about it. 

“I don’t know, I really don’t.” Jay answered honestly.

“Let’s wait and see what Olivia discovers. But when the time comes to possibly make that decision, I’ll support whatever you decide. She’s your daughter, you have to do what you feel is best for her.”

“Erin’s your daughter.” Jay countered.

“She is, and if I find out that she knew what was happening I wouldn’t let her walk away from it. Some things can be buried and forgotten, this isn’t one of them. If she was involved or knew about it and allowed it to happen, she has to pay the price for her actions. She doesn’t get to be stupid and reckless when she has a child. We’ll see what Olivia discovers and go from there. If you want to pursue something then we can.”

Jay gave a nod. “What about the possibility of Bunny?”

“I called a friend of mine who is a family lawyer, Matt Davidson. He is going to represent Bella as a favor to me. He’s already going to be getting restraining orders put into place and looking at the adoption and seeing what he can do to revoke it.”

“Is that possible?”

“Erin went through the proper legal channels, however he could argue that it was done with ill intent by both parties due to them knowing where you lived. They both knew where you worked and how to get into contact with you or with your brother. They did it legally, but did so knowing you would never find out about it. He seemed confident that he could get it annulled. Leaving Bunny with nothing more than grandparents’ rights and that can be waived given the state Bella is in. He’ll let us know and he can also help with criminal cases as well should we need him.”

“Good, ok, so we might not have to worry about all of that. Hopefully Bunny gets thrown in jail and we won’t have to deal with her.”

“We’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere near Bella.” Voight promised. 

He was not going to let Bunny anywhere near Bella ever again. He didn’t care what he had to do, he was going to make sure she never caused Bella pain ever again. Bella gave a big yawn and she placed her thumb in her mouth and cuddled up with her puppy.

“Tired baby?” Jay asked, warmly.

Bella just gave a sleepy nod and Jay stood up and Voight easily transferred Bella over to him. Voight picked up their dishes and spoke as he brought them into the kitchen.

“I think we all need to get some sleep.”

Jay picked up the monitor as he spoke to Bella. “Do you want to sleep with Daddy tonight?”

Bella gave a small nod and they could both tell she was still scared to sleep alone.

“Ok baby, let’s get into bed. Can you say goodnight to Pop Pop?”

“Ight op op.” Bella said softly.

Voight went over and kissed Bella’s head as he spoke. “Goodnight my little princess. I will see you in the morning and we’ll see what toys we can play with.”

“Te.” Bella said with a hint of a smile.

“Good night Jay.”

“Night Hank.”

Jay took Bella up to his temporary room and he placed her down on the bed. Jay then went to grab his duffle bags and started to look through them as he spoke. 

“Daddy’s special blanket is here. How about I get it on the bed and we can get some sleep.”

Bella crawled over to the pillows and laid down. Jay found the blanket, he thanked Hailey for remembering to grab it, not that he expected she would forget. She hadn’t known he had it until that night she got back from New York and she spent the night with him. Jay had explained it to her and not surprisingly she was perfectly ok with it. She didn't complain about it when she slept over like Erin always did. Hailey knew it helped him to sleep and that was all she needed to know. Jay got the blanket out and put it over the bed. He then went and turned on the lamp in the room so it wouldn’t be dark for Bella before he turned the light off. He then grabbed some sleep pants and got changed real quick, making sure he kept his shirt on. He then got into bed and put a spare pillow behind Bella so she wouldn’t roll off the bed and one between them. He didn’t know what Bella would remember about the assaults or where it happened so he wanted to make sure she felt safe around him.

“Good night my sweet Bella.” Jay said, warmly.

Jay ran his hand through Bella’s hair and she closed her eyes and it was not long before she was fast asleep. Jay was hoping she would be able to get some serious sleep, because her body desperately needed it. Tomorrow he would get started on her development and see where they were at with her. What he did know was her life was only going to be better from here on out. She was safe and loved and Jay knew she would thrive with her new environment. And if anyone tried to threaten that, he would kill them. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  



End file.
